4th case

PEOPLE V TOLENTINO (Habitual delinquent/recidivist)

People of the Philippines – Plaintiff, appellee
V
Faustino Tolentino (Appellant) and Luisa Corpuz – Defendants

FACTS:
Defendants pleaded guilty to the charge of theft of seven shirts valued at P14 belonging to one
Cosme Famorca. Both being, recidivists, were sentenced in the Court of First Instance to suffer
two months and one day of arresto mayor and Faustino Tolentino was further sentenced to suffer
an additional penalty of six years and one day of prision mayor for habitual delinquency

Date of Date of Crime Sentence Date of

commission sentence release

10-13-25 Qualified theft, 6 months and P3 3-18-26

MCDE-16887 indemnity

10-29-26 10-30-26 Theft, NCDE - 3 months and 1 day 1-20-27

42165

8-1-27 8-1-27 Qualified theft, 6 months 1 day and 8-10-30

NCDE-57895 P15 indemnity

9-14-35 9-30-35 Estafa, CFID- 2 months 1

50973 day arresto mayor, to
return the bicycle
stolen or its value P40,
and additional penalty
of 2 years 4 months 21
days of prision
correccional, and
costs.

 The trial court sentenced the appellant under paragraph 5 (b) of article 62 of the Revised
Penal Code, as if this were only his 4th and not his fifth conviction
  However, appellant’s counsel stated this is appellant's 3rd conviction, should be
sentenced under paragraph 5 (a) of article 62, on the ground that the first conviction
should be taken circumstance and should be disregarded as an element of habitual
delinquency
5. Habitual delinquency shall have the following effects:
(a) Upon a third conviction the culprit shall be sentenced to the penalty provided by law for the last crime
of which he be found guilty and to the additional penalty of prision correccional in its medium and
maximum periods:
(b) Upon a fourth conviction the culprit shall be sentenced to the penalty provided for the last crime of
which he be found guilty and to the additional penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and medium
period; and
(c) Upon fifth or additional conviction, the culprit shall be sentenced to the penalty provided for the last
crime of which he be found guilty a guilty to the additional penalty of prision mayor in its maximum
period to the reclusion temporal in its minimum period.
For the purposes of this article, a person shall be deemed to be habitual delinquent if within a period of
ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of robo, hurto, estafa, or
falsificacion, he is found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener.

COURT RULING
Appellant Faustino Tolentino shall suffer an additional penalty of ten years and one day of
prision mayor
 Cannot accept the Appellant’s counsel theory of appellant’s 3rd conviction as the court
cannot disregard articles 14 (9) and Revised Penal Code, which respectively define
recidivism as an aggravating circumstance and lay down the rule for the application of
aggravating and mitigating circumstances
-For the purpose of fixing the additional penalty, recidivism cannot be taken as an
aggravating circumstance for the reason it is inherent in habitual delinquency
 Cannot accept the recommendation for affirmance made by the Solicitor General on the
theory that the present is appellant's 4th conviction as the court cannot disregard his
previous fourth conviction alleged in the information solely because the date of his
release in connection therewith has not been shown
-he was sentenced for the fourth time on September 30, 1935, to suffer two months and
done day of arresto mayor plus an additional penalty of two years, four months, and
twenty-one days of prision correctional
-The present case the date of the commissioned of the offense complained is on August
13, 1941 which is less than 10 years
 In result, the appellant must be sentenced under paragraph 5 (c) of article 62 to the
additional penalty of prision mayor in its maximum period to reclusion temporal in its
minimum period
 The penalty imposed is its minimum degree because of the mitigating circumstance of
plea of guilty.